A “Previously Unrecognized Link” – Land Plants Caused a Sudden Shift in Earth’s Composition



The composition of the Earth's continents abruptly changed as a result of the evolution of land plants, according to research from the University of Southampton.

Dr. Tom Gernon's Southampton team, along with associates from Queen's University of Canada, the University of Cambridge, the University of Aberdeen, and the China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, investigated how the evolution of land plants affected the Earth's chemical composition over the course of the previous 700 million years.

Recent publications of the researchers' findings in Nature Geoscience.

According to some study, ferns developed around 430 million years ago and were among the earliest terrestrial plants to conquer the continents. At this same time, the scientists record a significant change in the makeup of the continental crust, which they attribute to significant adjustments in river systems brought on by the evolution of land plants. Tom Gernon of the University of Southampton is to be credited.

The evolution of terrestrial plants occurred about 430 million years ago, during the Silurian Period, when Europe and North America were joined to form the continent known as Pangaea.

Plants made significant changes to the biosphere (those parts of the planet's surface where life thrives), preparing the way for the advent of dinosaurs about 200 million years later.

The study's lead author, Dr. Christopher Spencer, an assistant professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, believes that plants changed river systems fundamentally, resulting in more meandering rivers, muddy floodplains, and richer soils. This change was attributed to the emergence of plant rooting systems, which assisted in the production of enormous amounts of mud (by dissolving rocks) and stabilized river channels, which locked up this mud for extended periods of time.

The scientists realized that plate tectonics connects the Earth's surface and deep core because rivers wash mud into the oceans, which are then taken into the molten interior of the Earth (or mantle) at subduction zones, where it melts to form new rocks.

The group discovered alterations in the chemical makeup of rocks created by the melting of the Earth's interior in subduction zones where large tectonic plates collide. This image depicts the Avachinsky volcano in Kamchatka, a modern subduction volcano. Tom Gernon of the University of Southampton is to be credited.                                                                                                            
Dr. Tom Gernon, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Southampton and a co-author of the paper, claims that as these rocks crystallize, they preserve remnants of their past. It's that simple. Accordingly, we expected that the emergence of plants should significantly slow down the transport of mud to the oceans and that this trait should be recorded in the geological record.

The scientists put this theory to the test by analyzing a database of more than 5,000 zircon crystals found in subduction zone magmas. These crystals act as chemical "time capsules" that provide important information about Earth's atmosphere at the moment they crystallized.

The West Indies' Montserrat Island is depicted as a subduction volcano in the present. Tom Gernon of the University of Southampton is to be credited.

The scientists discovered strong proof that the emergence of land plants is closely related to a profound change in the makeup of the rocks that make up Earth's continents.

Notably, the researchers also discovered that, in line with their predictions, the chemical properties of zircon crystals formed at this time point imply a major slowing down of sediment transfer to the oceans.

Researchers have demonstrated that vegetation altered the dynamics of melting in the Earth's mantle as well as the planet's surface.

"It is incredible to believe that the greening of the continents was felt in the deep Earth," Dr. Spencer says in his conclusion.

Hopefully, this previously unknown connection between the Earth's inner and surface environment will inspire more research.

By UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON 

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